When He Smiles
by MarvelAsh
Summary: His smirk was more important than it seemed. The perfect façade. A one-shot about the story behind Zach's smirk. The sequel, Being a Baxter, is out now!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey peoples! This is my newest one-shot. I wanted to write a story centered on Zach's smirk and the reasons behind it.. And this story pretty much wrote itself! It's a new style of writing, extremely different from my other stories and I really hope you like it!**

**Also: My stories read a lot better when you adjust the width! Right under the summary, there's a small button with little black horizontal lines. If you click on that, then click on 1/2, it looks MUCH better!**

**Also, a HUGE thank you to my two betas, maryclumsykatherine and Shakespeare's Puppet! They were both _absolutely amazing!_**

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If there was one thing that made Zachary Goode stand out (aside from his good looks and extraordinary spy skills) it was undoubtedly his smirk. The smirk that simultaneously irritated and charmed most of the girls he knew, spy or civilian. It was his trademark, his label.

His smirk was more important than it seemed. The perfect façade. It was what covered the layers of his personality. It hid the years of pain his mother put him through. It appeared when he felt hurt. And it completely disguised a well kept secret, a fact, about Zachary Goode.

He had never smiled.

Sure, when he was younger, perhaps. All babies smile at one point or another. He may have cracked a grin as a young child, too little to understand that the 'toys' he was given weren't toys at all. He probably laughed before he reached that age, the age when he realized that most mothers don't handcuff their children and teach them how to get out in less than 10 seconds. Before he realized why there were random unconscious men lying around his living room occasionally.

It was once he reached that important age that the smiles stopped, the grins faded away, and the laughter became nonexistent.

Zach never really understood _why_ he was different from the other boys growing up in the Circle. Why he didn't grow to love playing the simulated war games their parents had created like everyone else. It didn't make sense. So he hid it. He pretended.

His whole life seemed like an act. For the Circle members, he was the perfect assassin. The perfect image of a prodigy, their leader's son. To the students and teachers at Blackthorne, he was the amazing student. Later, to the girls at Gallagher, he was an enigma. And yet, no matter how hard he worked, how much of an effortlessly amazing spy he became, his heritage was always a cloud over his head. Everyone who knew his mother, or knew about her, looked at him differently.

Part of it was because of his eyes. Zach didn't favor his mother's genes, except for his eyes. He hated them. Every time he looked into a mirror, it was a cruel reminder that he was closely related to her.

His infamous smirk hid all of this. It became just a failsafe screen at first, then in time, a habit.

It was only when he met her that everything changed.

-:-:-:-

She was amazing, the kind of girl that was breathtakingly beautiful and didn't know it. She could blend in with whatever was near her, a perfect pavement artist. She was smart, funny, and kind. But most of all, she didn't judge him. She never once looked at him with contempt, never saw his mother when she gazed into his eyes. Because she didn't know. She didn't know who he was, or where he came from, and he planned to keep it that way.

They grew closer together. She became his Gallagher Girl, and he, in turn, was her Blackthorne Boy. He still hid that area of his life from her. For her own protection, he reasoned. And that was partly true. But there was more to it than that. It wasn't so simple. Yes, it was to protect her, to keep her away from his mother. But there was another side to the problem, another angle that he rarely looked at. Zach didn't want either girl to find out about the other. Because once Cammie knew about his mother, she would look at him just like everyone else did. And once his mother knew about Cameron, there would be no stopping her. She would pursue his Gallagher Girl until Cammie was dead.

Because Cameron was a Morgan.

Zach knew full well that Morgans and Goodes were not easily mixed. He was aware that his mother had been chasing after Matthew Morgan for most of her life. He knew that Cammie was in danger, perhaps because of him. And he tried, he truly did. He tried to leave, to convince them both that separate was better. But it didn't work. It couldn't. Because it was a lie. She needed him just as much as he needed her.

The day she found out about his family was one of the worst days of his life. And for one scary moment, she looked at him differently.

But that day went differently than most. It became one of the _best_ days of his life. For the first time, although it was a different look, it wasn't one of suspicion, uncertainty, or wariness. It was shock, yes, but also trust. She didn't run, didn't leave him behind. And that surprised him.

She changed his life, that much was certain. Over the next years, she became a staple. They were together constantly, always a couple, always a team. Together, they took down the Circle. He felt no sorrow as he watched his mother being taken away. No guilt when she died. Only wistfulness for all those lost years, all those moments that could have been wonderful memories between a mother and her son.

The day he told her he loved her was a turning point. It wasn't mushy or drawn out- Zach had never been a man of many words- but it was heartfelt. And it was a mutual feeling, one she made known moments later.

They graduated together, side by side, ignoring the fact that 'G' was quite a few letters away from 'M.' A pact was made, and they promised not to let the other person influence their decision when it came time to be recruited. But they both decided on the CIA anyway and became partners.

She made it easy for him to be happy. Soft looks were easier now, although he hadn't smiled.

The first smile came on a bright sunny day. A day with weather perfectly suited for a proposal. She said yes. And he smiled for the first time in years.

Their group of close friends all helped plan the wedding. It was a beautiful day. Solomon gave Cammie away, managing to do so without crying (Although Cammie still claims that she saw a small tear leak out when he passed her to Zach.) And everyone attending saw Zach's smile for the first time as his bride walked down the aisle.

Rachel stepped into the large gap his mother had never tried to fill. She was an amazing mother-in-law, teasing him constantly, loving him always. She cried along with the rest of their small family when Cammie told everyone the news.

A Goode baby was on the way.

The thought filled him with simultaneous feelings of dread, happiness, and fear. What if he failed like his parents did? But Cammie pulled him out of his fears and put his doubts to rest.

And they did it together.

The third smile, the smile that seemed to unlock all the rest, came when he held his baby girl for the first time. And when Morgan Goode opened her emerald green eyes and looked at her daddy, no smirk could ever rival the awestruck smile on his face.

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**A/N: Hope you liked it! Please leave a review and let me know what you think... I may write a few more one-shots like this if you guys are interested! :) Thanks for reading!**


	2. Sequel is up!

**Hey guys! Just a quick update to let you know, the sequel to this one-shot is out now! It's a one-shot about Bex and her fighting skills... So, check it out and let me know what you think! Thanks!**

**Also, I would like to thank all of you for reviewing and following this one-shot! It's the first in a new series I'm starting, tentatively titled ****Behind The Spies****... The title is a work in progress, haha! Thanks everyone!**

**Ash**


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